Court Denies Efforts by Plaintiff Attorneys to Obtain Legal Bills from CSX in RICO Case

WHEELING, W.Va. –– An asbestos defendant who was filed a RICO complaint against several plaintiff attorneys is not required to produce information on its legal bills, a federal court has ruled, since the information is not relevant or discoverable at this stage of the litigation.

In the Oct. 29 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ruled that even though the plaintiff, CSX Transportation Inc. (NYSE:CSX), admits that it will be seeking attorneys’ fees in the action, the information is “certainly not relevant discoverable evidence in the pretrial context.”

The underlying dispute involves CSX's contention …